Learn how to fly
by Haawk
Summary: Clint had a bad start with the avengers. How did the archer manage to become a valued member? Tells Clint's story. Starts at the time at wich the movie is set but continues. Clint-centric but the whole team is there. Third chapter is up. This is my first story ever and english is not my mother tongue so please review.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cloudless night, more stars visible than anyone could count. Inside candles were burning and champagne was waiting in elegant glasses.

Pepper was sitting on the red sofa in the Stark Tower, waiting for Tony to return. Today they had turned on the power in the Stark Tower and she wanted to celebrate this moment with champagne and the finest sushi you could get outside of Japan. In the background Jamie Cullum was singing. It was very romantic. This would bet he perfect evening. JARVIS had been ordered to keep everyone out and let no phone calls through. Nothing would disturb them.

She knew Tony had arrived, when she heard metal crashing on stone. Sparks were lighting up the balcony.

„Honey you are home. What an entrance. Lovely. Maybe you should work a little on the landing, don't you think?"

„Everyone can knock on doors. I don't do boring."

Once Tony Stark, genius, multi-billionaire and super-hero, had gotten out of his suit, Pepper took control of the evening.

Everything was perfect. Until Tony's cellphone rang.

„Sir, it is agent Couslon. He is insisting on speaking to you." JARVIS obviously had lost the battle against the agent.

„Tell him I'm not available!" Tony really did not want to spend his evening talking to that guy in his suit, when he had a beautiful woman in his arm and a glass of champagne in his hand.

„Sir, he is insisting."

With a sigh, Tony answered his cellphone. „Coulson, I don't have time right now. I'm actually not even at home."

„Oh, and I thought I had heard voices." Even as Phil was saying these words, the elevator doors opened, revealing the agent. Tony and Pepper turned around, looking at the suit-wearing man with astonishment.

„How did you get past JARVIS. What? How?"

„Mr. Stark, we don't have time to lose. We need Ironman to help us with a little crisis."

„Oh Phil, what happened?" Pepper's face got a sympathetic look. Tony did not like that at all.

„Oh Phil?", he said with a sour look in her direction.

„I really don't want to know anything about any crisis anywhere."

„Tony, I am here to assemble a team of extraordinary people."

„And I thought the Avenger Initiative was history! And didn't that file say I was an egoistic smart-ass, not able to work in a team?" Tony was still mad at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He was not egoistic. He was just a little more important than other people.

„Just look at these files, please?" SOme demi-god from another planet has stolen very dangerous technology and is just about ready to rule the world. We need to Stop him before that happens."

Tony was not planning on simply following Coulson like a puppet. Unfortunately for him, Pepper decided differently.

„He'll look at the file. Can you drop me off at the airport in the meantime?

Pepper and Phil had left the apartment so quickly after that, that Tony did not even manage to object. Not that it would have done him any good.

Once Pepper had set her minds on something, there was no way out.

Natasha Romanoff didn't have champagne but was still enjoying her evening. She didn't lie on a couch, but being tied to a chair was not that bad either. Everything was going according to her plan. Until a cellphone rang. Her fat opponent answered it, but quickly passed it on to the fragile-looking woman in front of him.

„You need to come in!"

The Black Widow recognized Coulson's voice immediately.

„I'm busy. This guy is giving me everything!"

„I do not ... give ... everything?" That fat guy was beginning to be really irritated. This was not how his interrogations normally went down.

Very far away Coulson knew exactly how to bring his agent in.

„Barton's been compromised!"

„Give me one minute.", was all Natasha replied. It really did not take much longer for her to knock out the two bullies standing between her and her „captor", and to tie him up.

Just a few hours later, Natasha was no longer in Russia, but in India. She was waiting impatiently fort he little girl leading Dr. Bruce Banner to a little shack in the slums. When he finally arrived she had to threaten him into staying. She had absolutely no problem with that. Dr. Banner obviously did not want to be anywhere near a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Given how said agency had tried to kill him several times, she could understand him.

„I'm not here to kill you Dr. Banner. We just need your help." Natasha liked this guy. He had a gentle face and a soothing voice.

„I don't think I want to help you."

„I think you will want to. There's an alien god named Loki, who wants to take over the world." Natasha thought, that was a pretty good argument. Bruce did not.

I will not let the Hulk out, no matter what you say."

„We don't want the Hulk. We want you. This Loki-guy stole technology that is giving off gamma radiation and there is no one as familiar with this radiation as you are."

It took Natasha some more threats, but finally she got Dr. Banner to come with her. He liked that woman, there was something about her face.

On the other side of the ocean, the director himself approached a very angry man. Captain Steve Rogers was beating the crap out off a sandbag.

„Angry?", Fury asked.

„Who are you?" Steve was not in the mood for a heart to heart.

„Someone with a job."

„You want me to do a job?"

„ More like a mission", the man with the eyepatch said throwing a file to the tall, blonde Captain.

Steve Rogers so far was the only one who did not need to be convinced. He felt useless. He had slept for 70 years and was eager to prove himself to this new world. But it seemed like this world did not want his help. Now was his chance to prove that he was not just some relic. Now was his time!


	2. Chapter 2

Clint Barton could not move. He could not speak. Hell, he felt like he could not even breathe. And at the same time he was moving, speaking and breathing. He saw himself moving around the crowded room, heard himself giving orders. But was that really him? Or was it someone else, something else? Because Clint would never shoot at fellow agents, Clint would never shoot at Fury and Clint certainly would not team up with some crazy god with minority complexes, waving around a blue glowing staff. Clint also would not steal a dangerous piece of technology from S.H.I.E.L.D. and then run of to lead an alien army to his planet.

Clint screamed. He screamed as loud and as long as he could. He screamed out his agony, but no one seemed to notice. Maybe because not a single sound left his mouth. He tried to fight it, tried to break free, tried to stop that something from using his body to do all those awful things. But that something just laughed at him for even trying to resist. It told him, that he would never be able to stop it.

But that thing did not know Clint Barton. He would find a way out of this. Life had taught him to fight his way through. If it were not for this ability Clint would not have made it past the age of three.

So he kept on fighting, using all of his strength. Trying to keep his feet from moving, to keep his hands from grabbing his bow. He fought and screamed until he had worn himself out completely. And then he screamed and fought some more, until he did not know where he was, or who he was anymore.

Meanwhile the small group of super-heroes had assembled on the helicarrier and was seated at a big round table. D. Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff and Captain Steve Rogers looked at Phil Coulson and Director Fury. They were waiting for an explanation.

„Yesterday at 1025 an individual from the planet of Asgard reached Earth. He calls himself Loki and says he wants to free us from freedom.

He then stole what we call the tesseract, an alien piece of technology that we consider very dangerous. He somehow managed to gain control over Dr. Selvigg, an expert on the tesseract. We believe he will use him somehow to activate it. So, we need you to find Loki and the tesseract and stop him." Fury showed the team footage of the tesseract and of Loki.

„We also have another problem!" Phil's face was worried.

„Loki did not only manage to gain control over Dr. Selvigg and some of our agents but also over Agent Clint Barton." Natsha met Phil's gaze and for a short moment the two agents shared their concern for their friends well being.

„Agent Barton, codename Hawkeye, is a valuable member of this agency. If in any way possible you are to retrieve him alive."

„No problem, sir, we will bring back your team members unharmed." Steve liked where this mission was going. Not only could they save the whole planet. They could also save their fellow comrades.

„This might not be as easy as it seems, Captain." Now even Fury looked worried.

„Hawkeye has been in this agency for years now. He is probably the best sniper we have. His weapon of choice is a 70 inch, 40 lbs recurve bow, And he never misses." Fury stopped when Tony shook his head sarcastically. „I think we can handle Legolas."

„I warn you to not underestimate Hawkeye. He can put an arrow into your eyeball from a mile away. And he doesn't use standard issued arrows. I believe that an explosive arrow might even harm you in your fancy suit." That comment shut Tony up.

„What the director wants to say, is that you need to be careful. Do what you need to fulfill your mission...but if possible bring Hawkeye back in one piece." Slowly the new super-hero group realized, that something about that agent was special, and that Phil Coulson would not be happy to hear that his hawk would not fly anymore.

„Gentlemen, get to work!" With that Fury left the table, followed by Phil Coulson.

„So, Agent Romanoff, this Hawkeye, do you know him?", Bruce asked.

„I do."

„And, what it is about him that makes Coulson so nervous?"

„Coulson brought Clint in. He is his handler. And Clint is... he's good at what he does."

It was clear, that that was not the real reason, but it was just as clear, that Natasha would not say anymore right now.

So the team got to work. Well, Bruce got to work, trying to find the tesseract. Everyone else prepared themselves to fight a demi-god and a brainwashed archer.

When Clint resurfaced again, he needed some time to orientate. Then it hit him again. He was a captive. In his own body. Clint was starting to feel panic, but years of training helped him push it back. He needed to concentrate. He needed to find a way to stop Loki.

The first thing he noticed was, that he was not in that dark room anymore. He was in the open and judging by the writing on houses and signs, he was not even in the USA anymore but in Germany. What the hell was he doing in Germany?

The answer to that question made Clint want to scream again. Everything went down so fast. He barely had time to realize how his hand reached for one of his arrows and sent it right into a man's eyeball. Clint prayed for this to be a nightmare. Yes he was used to killing, but he would never shoot a civilian. Clint needed to do something, anything to stop this horror. He concentrated on what his first teacher had taught him.

„Breathe Clint. Breathe in, breathe out. Close your eyes. See your aim inside your head. Your eyes will only distract you from your true aim."

So Clint closed his eyes. He felt himself breathe and it calmed him down. When his body knelt down to cut out the poor man's unharmed eye, Clint concentrated on his hand. And then he stopped. His hand had almost reached his knife when it stopped. Clint kept on breathing and his hand did not move again. His body knelt on the cold ground. The other agents started staring at him, waiting for him to continue with their mission. Slowly the were starting to worry. This was not going according to the plan.

Clint was feeling better fort he first time in two days. He might not have found the strength to fight Loki yet, but this was a start. He had gained back some control.

And that was, when hell broke loose.

Clint had never felt such an agony before. There was no way to describe the pain, that was radiating through his mind. Clint found himself screaming again, trying to fight off Loki's touch. But he pain would not pass. It kept on until it had reached every corner of his mind. It tore down every wall Clint had erected around his memories. It searched for the most painful ones and forced them upon him. The last thing Clint saw, was his hand cutting out the man's eye. Then he was lost in his personal hell.


	3. Chapter 3

Fury did not know what to make of this. His team had captured Loki somewhere in Stuttgart and brought him back onto the ship, where he was locked up for good. Still, this did not feel right. It had been far to easy. And for that matter, Agent Barton and Loki's other puppets were still out there. Fury became more and more convinced, that Team Loki had a plan, and that Loki being on this ship fit that plan perfectly.

Just when he had thought that thought he heard one of his agents over the com.

„We're being attacked. Flight deck, everyone to the flight de..."The next thing Fury heard was guns being fired. He did not waste anymore time but started off to the flight deck himself. If Barton was one of the attackers, he wanted to make sure no one killed him. He still needed that man and he invested too much money in him to let him die because of a psychopathic demi-god alien.

But when Fury showed up on the flight deck, he could not see Barton anywhere. He recognized other attackers though. At least three of them were S.H.I.E.L.D agents. His men were fighting his men. This was a lose-lose situation. Fury turned around to asses the situation, when he saw the first agent lying on the floor, an arrow in his chest.

„What the...?" Fury knew, those arrows, they clearly belonged to Barton. But Barton never shot someone in the chest. He shot the arrow right through the eyeball, so what was going on here? Fury needed to find his agent, so followed the dead. One after the other, lying on the floor, an arrow sticking out of some part of their body. When Fury reached dead number four, he was not dead. The arrow had hurt him badly, probably it would take months before he could bend his knee again, but he was alive.

The director dared to hope. Clint Barton would not miss someone from a mile away. He COULD NOT miss someone standing right in front of him. Unless he wanted to miss.

Clint ran down a small corridor. He almost felt relieved. No one blocked his way, so he could not shoot anyone. Although his body kept running, Clint was more exhausted than ever. He had not gotten any sleep, since Loki had „touched" him , and that had been three days ago. Still that was not the worst part. He had been up that long plenty of times while on a mission. What really drained him was fighting Loki. He had killed twelve people already and it was hard to keep the horror down. But Clint had also managed to save three. This would bet he only time, he was proud to miss. Every time he saw himself raising the bow, he concentrated so hard on not shooting the poor soul in his way, that until now he had managed to miss the eye or heart of three people. He just hoped, that help would be there soon enough.

He had almost reached the end of the corridor, when he saw someone blocking his way. Immediately he concentrated. But this time it was different. Now he had recognized his opponent. Tasha!

This could not be happening. Not Tasha. Clint could not concentrate anymore. He could only scream for help, while his hand reached for yet another arrow. Of course no one heard him. Clint wanted to close his eyes, wanted to run away from this terrible place, filled with monsters that would make him kill one of the few people he had ever considered a friend, when a fist punched him in the face. The pain was so much Clint forgot to think for a second. That second was enough for Natasha to get her hands around his neck. Clint saw himself fight back, saw him hit the fragile-looking agent, but he felt the pain she caused him by hitting him again and again. It was a good pain. It meant that Natasha was alright. She had a chance to bring him down. He did not know whether she would kill him or not, but right now that was not important. She needed to stop him before he could kill anyone else, especially her.

This hope gave Clint the strength to fight again. To fight the arms that were attacking Natasha. Apparently Natasha and Clint himself did a good job, because just seconds later Clint felt his head meeting cold metal. His head exploded into million pieces. But despite his agony, he felt that something had changed. His body had stopped moving and when he looked up to Natasha Romanov he heard himself say „Tasha?".

He was not quite sure though, whether she had heard him to, because she sent him to sleep with a big bang right then.

The Avengers, or rather the group that was supposed to bet he avengers sat around the round table staring at Fury. They had been able to fight off the attackers. But it had cost them a high price. Not only had 16 agents died today, including two of the attackers. Loki had escaped and Phil Coulson had died.

Tony could hardly believe it. Phil Coulson was a suit. He belonged behind a desk. He certainly was not someone dying like a hero in a fight. It seemed to Tons that he would have to change his view on Coulson.

Rogers and appeared shocked, seeing all the destruction, but he had not known any S.H.I.E.L.D personal closely. Natasha on the other hand had. She had woked with Coulson for years and you could see, that she was shaken. Not that she lost her composure, but if you looked closely you could see how hard she was fighting, not to cry.

Fury, who must have known Phil longest, stood in front of them, debriefing them on the latest events. He wasted no time on mouning the dead, what good would it do them now?

„What about Clint?" Natashas question was nothing more than a whisper.

„He is safely secured in one of our cells and taken care of by our medical staff. It seems you knocked him out quite good.

He should wake up soon and then let's just hope we find a way to get him back to normal."

„I'm on it!", Natasha said, already half out of the room.

That left Tony and Rogers alone with Fury.

Both of them did not want to be with Fury. The director knew that. He also knew that he had to act, if the avengers should ever work. He would make sure that Phil had not died in vane.

Clint was pretty sure he did not want to wake up. He could not bear anymore. Being trapped in his own body, shooting at comrades, helping destroy the world. He figured if he did not wake up, his body could not do any more things his mind could not bear. Butt he world is a cruel place and does not give a damn about what Clint wants.

When Clint finally opened his eyes, he did not recognize the room he was in. He wanted to get out. But he could not move. Panic gripped Clint. He had hoped what he had felt in the corridor had been real, that he really was free again. Now he had to find out, that he still could not move, that he still could not command his own body.

„NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Clint screamed.

„Shhh, it's okay. You're going to be okay Clint."

„You can here me? Tasha? Can you here me?"

Natasha would have laughed at such a silly question, had she not seen the horror in Clint's eyes.

„Yes I can here you. Everything is okay. You`re safe now!"

Clint wanted to tell her, that nothing was okay, that he still was not in control, that she had to get away, before Loki found a way to make him hurt her, when he saw the restraints.

They were neatly attached to his arms, legs and his chest and did not allow him to move. The relieve Clint felt was indescribable. Loki was gone and he would not have to hurt anyone anymore. This thought already ended his feeling of joy.

„How many agents...?" Natasha stopped him before he could finish his question. She already knew what he was going to ask, and she would not let him do that to himself.

„This was not you Clint." She kept talking to him, trying to convince him, that he was not responsible fort he deaths of other agents. She could see in Clint's eyes that he did not believe her, but at least he did not ask her again. She would convince him with time.

The more troubling part, was to tell Clint of Phils death. Clint and Phil had been close. Natasha considered waiting with the news, but she knew it would not help. And she knew Clint would want to know.

„Clint, look at me." Clint was still not really focused, at times unmoving like a rock, at times fighting his restraints. Gently she took his head in her hands.

„Clint, look at me. Phil is dead."

Clint just looked at her in shock. When the news had reached his brain, he tried to get away from his partner. He wanted to run away, or maybe just curl up right here and never move again.

„It wasn´t you Clint. It was Loki with his staff." Natsha backed off a little, feeling that Clint wanted to get away.

Clint knew, that he did not do it, still he was thankful for the reassurance because his memory were foggy.

Still, if he had been able to resist Loki, he could have saved Phil. He helped Loki kill Phil. Whether he wanted to or not.

Natasha felt, that Clint was beating himself up. She knew, she could not stop that. Not now, while everything was still fresh. But she also knew, that the old Clint was back, so she took the restraints of.

Clint looked at her and she looked back. She knew what he was going through. Their private moment was abruptly ended, when Steve burst opened the door. He wanted to fight back, and Natasha was all up for it.

„Can you fly one of these things?" the Captain asked her.

She could not, but Clint already informed Rogers that he could.

„Are you sure this is a good idea, Clint? You`re exhausted and I gave you a concussion. You should rest." She knew, Clint would not rest, but this way she had at least Rogers was concerned for other reasons. The only time he had met agent Barton, the guy had led an attack against them. When he looked at Natasha though, nodding grimly at him, he agreed. The woman was on their side. If she trusted Barton, he would, too.

„Gear up!" was all he said before he ran off to find Tony.


	4. Chapter 4

The Avengers: it was supposed to be a group of super-heroes, impressive, strong, convinced and convincing. Now it was ... different! Tony Stark had put on his suit and was already flying towards the Stark Tower, where he suspected Loki to be. That left Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Bruce Banner had lost his fight against the Hulk and was somewhere, or rather anywhere. And the demi-god Thor, who had just showed up to bring Loki home, was lost somewhere, too. All in all, the remaining group was not as impressive as Fury had wished for. But it was something and it was on its way to save their collective asses.

The Captain led the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents straight to the next Jet. Clint took the pilot seat and got them on their way towards a new age war.

There have been millions of stories and tales about glorious fights. But whether Troy, Vietnam or a Pegasus Galaxy: A fight is just that. A fight with lots of blood and pain, and in the end one side wins.

In this case the avengers won. At some point of time, a scattered group of freaks, became The Avengers. Maybe it happened, when Bruce arrived on a moped that looked like it wanted to fall apart. Maybe it happened, when Thor realized he could not talk sense into his brother, or when Tony took one for the team. But maybe it happened, when Clint stood on top of a skyscraper, killing everyone who came too close to the other avengers, calling out tactics and warning everyone if something was coming their way.

No matter when it happened, at the end of the fight, when a whole city lay in ashes, six people had become one unit.

Weeks after the battle, when Thor had returned from Asgard and everyone else had dealt with the latest events, Tony invited the avengers to the Stark Tower. He did not invite them for dinner or tea, but offered them a new home. At the beginning, it seemed ridiculous, Five grown men and a woman (not including Pepper), living together. It did make sense though. The world would need the avengers again, and the team would have to function. They would have to get used to each other. This made sense to everyone and so Stark Tower turned into Avengers Tower.

Clint was the last to move in. He still was not sure, whether Tony had been sober, when he had invited Clint to stick along. After all, Clint had been compromised, he had killed agents, he had tried to kill Tony and Steven and he had almost hurt Natasha. But no one seemed to hold a grudge against him. The first week at work had been difficult, but rather because everyone was so understanding. Director Fury had asked him to go to a psych consult, Clint had objected, Fury had ordered him to go to a psych consult. Clint spent an awful lot of his time in hospital, where doctors tried to figure out, whether Loki's mind control would have long-term effects. Apart from this, people pretended like nothing had happened. His colleagues pretended, like he had not killed their friends. His boss pretended like he had not shot an arrow at him and everyone tried to pretend that things were the same without Coulson.

Clint could not understand, why people did not hate him. He did.

It was hard to get through the day, but he kept himself occupied at all times. The evenings were only bearable because after Clint had moved into the Tower, his team had recognized how bad Clint felt. At least one of them was always around to keep him busy. But when night came, he was alone. He would lie in his bed, waiting desperately for sleep, that would not come. If he fell asleep, he would wake up in the middle of the night, soaking wet with a racing heart. The nightmares would come every night. If no one else did, they would remind him of the things he had done.

The rest of the avengers noticed how Clint blamed himself for what Loki had him do. They told him over and over again, that he was not responsible, but it seemed like the archer could simply not believe them.

As heart-wrenching as it was to watch him suffer, it had made it possible for everyone to accept Clint as a member of the avengers. It was only a matter of days for Tony, Steve, Bruce and Thor to understand that Clint a man they could trust. That it was really Loki shooting those arrows. They were prepared to help Clint deal.

Their plan was rendered useless when one morning Clint was gone.

„His bag is gone, the bow and arrows as well." Bruce was still searching for a note that would explain the abrupt departure. „Where could he have gone, he isn't having a party without us, is he?" Tony was trying to joke, but did not put a lot of effort into it.

„He is on a mission." Natasha had just arrived back from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

„What? And he didn't as us to join? That's not very polite:" Tons did not like this at all. They were supposed to be a team. Going on missions together, saving the world together.

„Why didn't he tell us?" Bruce was less angry than worried. He knew Clint was still trying to punish himself for what he thought he had done.

„This is our job. S.H.I.E.L.D. has a mission, we take it. End of story." Natasha wanted to end this discussion now, but it was obvious she too was concerned.

She had every right to be.


	5. Chapter 5

A week later, Clint had still not reported back from his mission. Normally this wouldn´t worry Tasha. But she happened to know that he should have been back days ago.

So Natasha and the rest of the avengers sat in the kitchen, disussing how they could find Clint. Their discussion wasn´t going very well. Everyone wanted to help but they didn´t know how to as S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping every information locked up. The only person who coud have stolen the information was sulking. Tony knew, that he shouldn´t be mad at Clint. But as a matter of fact, he simply was. They guy had took of without saying a word, just when Tony had started thinking about trusting him. Now Hawkeye could see how far he´d get without the Avengers.

When the elevator doors opened, the conversation stopped immediatly. Every head turned to face the doors. Slowly a black figure was emerging, head hanging low. His black military suit was covered with blood, his face was so dirty it was hardly recognizable. But Natasha recognized it nonetheless.

„Clint!" It only took a second for her to rush out of her chair, towards Clint. The archer was slowly stumbling towards her, almost collapsing into her arms. Natasha steadied him, putting one arm around his waist, using the other to pull his arm over her shoulders. Meanwhile the rest of the team hadn´t moved an inch. All of them were staring at the beaten soldier with blank faces.

„MOVE!"

Natasha´s commanding tone did not leave room for objections. Steve was the first on his feet, speeding towards the two agents, taking Clint´s weight of Natasha. Bruce followed him, keeping a little distance, trying to identify every injury the young archer may have sufferd. Tony kept his distance at first, but then decided to take some action and lead the group towards his bedroom. Only Thor remained at the kitchen table, uncertain, what to think of the agent´s bloody entrance.

In the neighboring room Tony regretted offering the archer sanctuary on his bed.

„He´s ruining the sheets. Shit, the blood is ruining the sheets. Those are chinese silk. Do you know how difficult it is to..."

He didn´t get any further as the scowl from Natasha sent shivers down his spine. He was sure that, had she not been occupied with Clint, she would have killed him right away. So he shut up.

„He needs a doctor, Jesus Christ. He´s bleeding like hell. We need to get him to a hospital." Bruce didn´t feel comfortable standing over a man who wa apperantly bleeding to death on chinese silk.

„He´s right!" Natasha murmured. „He´s right." And then „THOR... CALL 911!"

Following that order – because it was definitly not a request – Thor´s head became visible in the door.

„I beg thou to forgive my asking: What did thy friendly request mean?"

Tons was amazed to see, that Natasha´s face could darken even more.

„Thor, my oversized friend, I will gladly show you the art of telephonery." Tony couldn´t wait to leave the room. Together with the still confused demi-god, Tony sped to the living area, simultaneously ordering JARVIS to call an ambulance.

Phil Coulson went straight past them, giving them nothing more than a short nod. Then he was gone. That left the team sitting on the small plastic chairs. It was a ridiculous picture seeing Tony Stark the multi-billionaire, a red haired assasin and a demi-god in the hall of the hospital. Only if Bruce Banner had turned into the Hulk it coud have been stranger. But Bruce was himself an the only one who did not look completely lost.

„What could possibly take so long?" Tony did not like to wait, especially not in a place that contained as much germs, as a hospital did.

„Tony, he had at least one gunshot-wound to the stomach. I´m sure the have him in the OR right now. This will take time." Bruce already knew, that he would have to keep telling Tony this, considering how they had only waited for ten minutes and Tony was already impatient.

„Well what happened anyway? I mean one day he´s just gone and the other he is bleeding on my carpet. Wouldn´t you like to know what happened in between?"

Natasha tried to ignore the stares of her teammembers. Clearly they expected answers from her. But she wouldn´t be able to give them any information. She hadn´t been briefed herself. She kept telling herself that this was normal, although she knew it wasn´t. She just hoped, that Clint would make it. Maybe then they would find out what happened to him. And then she would hunt down whoever did it. And it wouldn´t end with a happy ending for that person.

Bruce had been right. They had waited for two hours now and Tony had complained about how long things were taking every ten to 5 minutes. Waiting really wasn´t his domain.

When Bruce thought he couldn´t take it any longer, Phil Coulson stode towards them. Natasha didn´t wait for him to reach them but jumped off her seat and met him halfway. The others had no choice but to follow her if they wanted to know what was going on.

„Talk!"

Coulson seemed to be used to that tone for he did what Nathasha had said.

„He´s gonna make it Natasha! He´ll be fine. The wound was severe, but the doctors managed to repair it. So if you give Clint some time to heal, he´ll be just fine. Why don´t you guy go home and get some sleep. Clint is in good hands here."

Coulson looked tired and if he wasn´t sure he could handle Natasha.

„Yeah, well, see... We waited here for hours and to be honest with you we´d like to know what the hell happened. I´m not used to archers bleeding in my bed." Ton clearly hadn´t overcome the shock of someone bleeding on his interior design yet.

„Agent Barton is still unconscious, but I´m sure you can visit him tomorrow."

„Yeah, no, not what I meant."

Phil knew exactl what Tony meant, but although the Avengers were a part of S.H.I.E.l.D. now, that didn´t mean they would be informed about every mission. Especially not the ones that needed a master sniper and sent him back in a state like this.

„Mr. Stark, I´m afraid that information is classifed."

Coulson didn´t wait for another remark, but urned around and went back into that restricted area of the hospital where his agent was still recovering from the surgery.

„We should go home and come back tomorrow", Bruce suggested.

„I´m not leaving here!" Natashe was determined.

„Look, they are not gonna let us see him until tomorrow anyway, so we might as well get some rest."

Natasha didn´t want to leave, but she knew, that Bruce was right. It wouldn´t do Clint any good if she was completly worn out tomorrow. Hesistantigly she agreed to head back to the Stark Tower.


End file.
